


"His name is Jason!"

by Azalie_Kirkland



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alexander (OC) - Freeform, Apollo (OC) - Freeform, Bruce can't tell his son no, Bruticus (OC), Damian loves animals, Gen, Jason (OC) - Freeform, Short One Shot, animal OCs - Freeform, can you tell i'm bored, he's just following tradition okay, please take it, this idea has been in my head for days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 11:35:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16618220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azalie_Kirkland/pseuds/Azalie_Kirkland
Summary: "Something had awoken Bruce, though he wasn’t sure what. He laid still in bed until he heard it again. Those were definitely hooves out in the hall. He shot up out of bed and out his bedroom door, clad only in his pajama pants. In front of him stood his son and a huge black horse. 'Is that a HORSE??'Damian just stood there, holding a red lead rope. 'Obviously.'"Bruce remembers all the pets he's had, and Damian continues the tradition.





	"His name is Jason!"

**Author's Note:**

> Most of the stories about the animals are made up. The one about the grey pony is kinda canon, but not really. This is just what my brain comes up with on a sugar rush okay

Bruce had a grey pony growing up. He could remember Alfred giving him riding lessons on it. He doesn’t remember what happened to the pony after his parents had passed away, though.

Bruce had Ace for years. That black great dane. He’d found him as a pup in the parking garage when he turned eighteen and had officially taken over Wayne Enterprises. He brought him home and even trained him himself. Ace grew old and passed away when Bruce was in his late twenties. He was heartbroken. Besides Alfred, Ace was the only thing he cared about during that time in his life.

Mogo was an interesting companion. That monkey had the nose of a hound and helped him and Robin on multiple occasions. He didn’t know how to care for an ape long term, though, so taking him to the zoo was the best thing Bruce could have done for him, he was sure.

Selina liked to drop Miss Kitty and Isis off when she knew she was going to be gone a while. Bruce never saw her when she did, though. He noticed the pattern between cats showing up at the manor and Catwoman sightings, so that’s how he figured out they were hers. Some days he’d just wake up to a cat smacking his face. He’s sure Isis passed away quite a few years ago, but Miss Kitty keeps showing up. He honestly can’t tell if it’s the same cat or a different one. He’d assume Miss Kitty would be old now, but this cat doesn’t act old.

When Damian showed up, along came Batcow, Titus, and Alfred the Cat. One right after another. Then Tim started seeing Connor, and wherever Connor went, Wolf followed. And sometimes Krypto would follow Clark whenever he showed up at the cave. Bruce might as well declare the manor a sanctuary with how many strays show up, human, animal, or otherwise.

Then one day Ace showed up. Well, it wasn’t Ace. Bruce was sure of that, having mourned for months following Ace’s death. But it was a black great dane puppy that looked just like Ace the day Bruce found him. He paused, staring at the pup in confusion and reminiscence.

Damian came up behind the pup, scooping him up off the floor of the hall. “His name’s Bruticus,” he told Bruce.

Bruce walked up to the two, holding his hand out for the pup to scent. Bruticus shoved his face into the offered hand, and Bruce gave him a good scritch behind the ear and under his chin. “Tell me next time you plan to bring another one home,” he told the boy.

It was a good year and a half later before another unknown stray had shown up. Something had awoken Bruce, though he wasn’t sure what. He laid still in bed until he heard it again. Those were  _ definitely  _ hooves out in the hall. He shot up out of bed and out his bedroom door, clad only in his pajama pants. In front of him stood his son and a huge black horse. “Is that a  _ HORSE?? _ ”

Damian just stood there, holding a red lead rope. “Obviously.”

“ _ Why _ is it in the  _ manor _ ?” Bruce declared, looking over the animal’s wavy mane, feathers, and red halter.

“You said to tell you next time I brought one home. His name is Alexander,” Damian said with a smile, feigning innocence.

Bruce stared at his son in exasperation. “He stays outside,” he told him before making his way back to bed. He was  _ not  _ going to be downstairs when Alfred inevitably finds out about a horse prancing around the halls. Bruce flopped down on top of his covers, listening to the hooves retreating down the hallway.

It was only a few months later when another one showed up. Bruce should have known. He should have  _ really  _ known. Damian was taking after him with his ‘saving-the-strays’ aspect.

Bruce watched from the kitchen windows. Damian was trying to climb onto a dapple-colored horse that was almost twice as tall as the boy was. He stepped outside as soon as he figured out how to mount the giant. “Damian?” Bruce called.

“His name is Apollo!” Damian called back, bringing the horse into a trot and taking off with Alexander following close behind.

Bruce thought that was the end of it. He was  _ sure  _ three animals would be enough for his son. But surely, a year later, Damian kept the tradition going.

Bruce had a  _ long  _ night. He had to attend a gala for Gotham, which wasn’t really a bad thing. But he couldn’t get out of there fast enough, and as soon as he was able to escape the crowds, he put on his cowl and took to patrolling the city. He was out way past six in the morning and was  _ exhausted _ .

He made his way downstairs, not really paying attention to his surroundings. He grabbed a cup of coffee and his paper and made his way to the table. He sat there for a few minutes, enjoying the silence until--

“Baaaa!”

Bruce dropped his paper. “What the hell!?” There was a small white goat on the far end of the table chewing on the back of a nearby chair. He turned and saw Dick laughing his ass off in the doorway, and the teen actually fell to the floor in tears at what happened next.

Bruce slammed his head onto the table. “DAMIAN!”

“HIS NAME IS JASON!”

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted on grandsmasher.tumblr.com


End file.
